Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Yes, the first sermon in Perry Noble's new sermon series "You Asked for It" - a sermon series whose sermon topics were chosen by the church members - will be devoted to a question that apparently is still bugging the Christians at NewSpring Church:

"Is interracial dating and marriage wrong?"

Who woulda thunk it - in 2013 the issue of interracial marriage is still up for debate in the minds of some Christians? I guess if you can be convinced that the Bible says you are required to give 10% of your income to the mega church down the street to "rebuke the devourer" and keep your car running longer and avoid sickness - then the question of whether interracial marriage is "wrong" might be something you are still confused about.

And who better to settle your confusion over the "sinfulness" of interracial dating and marriage - than Man of God Perry Noble. Perry is the master at tackling very difficult topics from the pulpit.

17 comments:

Anonymous
said...

To be fair, New Spring is in South Carolina. Independent Fundamental Baptist (and unaccredited) college Bob Jones University is not too far away.

BJU for decades has spoken on the ills of interracial dating and marriage. It wasn't until the early 2000's that BJU removed the interracial dating and marriage prohibitions from their student handbook. Yes, you read that right.

Even though the rules may have been lifted, there are those from BJU that attest the issue is still taboo and pressure is put on students to still refrain from doing it.

Though at face value this would seem backward and strange, I can imagine that members of New Spring have gotten into arguments with past and present BJU grads.

Good points. However, it is 2013. Even Bob Jones folks know interracial dating is not "wrong". But the peeps at NewSpring aren't so sure, as they apparently have a need for their pastor to explain this difficult concept that the color of one's skin doesn't matter.

I would agree with Anon 10:39, it may not seem like a serious question to you living in Florida, but for people in SC it's apparently enough of an issue that people voted for it. Especially someone who is younger who is dealing with parents or grandparents who do believe that inter-racial marriage/dating is wrong. I've often seem people use the old Testament requirements (like Deut. 7:3) to not intermarry with the other peoples in the promise land. I grew up in Louisiana and this was certainly a question being asked around people I knew. So who knows? Some of the other topics seem like good discussion points as well.

So glad we had evangelical superstars to help us discern the deep questions of life. The fact that these church members voted for this topic leads me to invoke the following rebuke: "In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!"

I live in Anderson and this is just embarrassing to me. The problem isn't that people in SC don't know that interracial marriage is ok (there are actually a lot of interracial couples here) it's that the majority of people that attend NewSpring aren't even Christian to begin. Quite frankly, NewSpring attracts the trailer park types. I attended there briefly and that place is just full of bad fruit & self-absorbed people. NewSpring does NOT represent the majority of the state of South Carolina.

This is fascinating to me, and I also love it that a church asked the congregation what they wanted to hear about. I wasn't sure if the church wanted questions about how God relates to cultural issues, or if they really meant questions about God or questions about life, etc. In other words, any topic at all. So maybe they didn't want questions about the reliability of the Bible, how pray works exactly, etc.

Christians disagree about all those topics, so I guess they'll be getting Noble's opinion on them now and decide if his answers are convincing.

No theology questions there except the one about losing your salvation-another area of disagreement.

I guess the basis of it all is that people want to please God, the Bible (that they are told is to rule their lives) is confusing and/or unread, so they want their pastor to clarify for them what God really thinks.

I wonder if Noble will give his answers as an educated opinion or if he'll claim to definitely know the correct answer from God on these questions? And how does the congregation view him in that regard?

But, all in all, I love that a church is asking for feedback. It's fascinating to learn what is actually going on in the minds of all those people sitting there. What do they believe? What do they care about?

In all fairness to Pastor Noble, this is more of an indictment on his congregation than on him. A pastor's job includes educating the congregation about widely held false beliefs, and if a significant number of his congregation believe that interracial relationships are wrong, then he is perfectly justified in preaching a sermon on how such a view is not Biblically sound. That Noble may himself be guilty of propagating other false beliefs is of no relevance to this.

I think Perry Noble is actually trying to reach people where they are in life; with the topics that concern them. The scriptures cover every topic. Frankly, I think the condescending, self-righteous, judgmental people who post these ridiculous criticisms are offensive. Find your own ministry and get off the computer keyboard bullies. Whoever posted the trailer park comment, they need Jesus too. Sounds like reading the Pharisees comments.

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About Me

We're small, insignificant, and harmless. But we have a loud, piercing bark that seems to annoy those in mega churches the most. Not Kool-Aid drinkers, only fresh, filtered water, please; with Grape or Cherry flavoring from Walmart. "Let him alone; God hath bidden him to speak:"